Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025

The document is a joint statement from various environmental and community organizations supporting the Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025. The signatories argue that the current 1872 hardrock mining law is antiquated, lacks environmental and community protections, and allows companies to extract minerals from public lands without paying royalties. They advocate for the new bill to establish environmental and cleanup standards, implement a royalty system to fund the reclamation of abandoned mines, and grant land managers the authority to balance mining with other land uses through a leasing system similar to that used for oil, gas, and coal.

• The 1872 hardrock mining law allows for the extraction of minerals such as gold, copper, and uranium from public lands without requiring companies to pay royalties to the public, resulting in over $300 billion worth of minerals being taken since 1872.
• Hardrock mining is identified as a major source of pollution, with the EPA stating that 40 percent of Western headwaters are polluted by mining and that the industry releases more toxic chemicals than any other industry.
• Abandoned mines in the West create significant hazards and pollution, costing taxpayers tens of billions of dollars for cleanup; however, the hardrock mines reclamation fund established by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act received only $5 million in FY 23.
• The proposed Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025 aims to replace the current system with a leasing system similar to those used for coal, oil, and gas to provide permitting certainty and ensure socially acceptable decisions.

APA

Earthjustice (2025). Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ngo-support-letter-mining-waste-fraud-and-abuse-prevention-act.pdf

Chicago

Earthjustice. Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025. 2025. https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ngo-support-letter-mining-waste-fraud-and-abuse-prevention-act.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Earthjustice |title=Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025 |date=4 March 2025 |url=https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ngo-support-letter-mining-waste-fraud-and-abuse-prevention-act.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{earthjustice2025mining, author = {{Earthjustice}}, title = {{Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act of 2025}}, publisher = {Earthjustice}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://earthjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/ngo-support-letter-mining-waste-fraud-and-abuse-prevention-act.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }